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Thanks Steve, I think that is my OR4! Just clarifying that the standard deviation of the jitter is the stat that matters, they all seem to have the same mean. I guess the mean is some function of the sample rate, and the scatter around that mean is related to the timing errors.
I was interested to read your comments that a modded OR5 with hynes power supply beats the inboard USB of overdrive. What are your thoughts for the future development of the overdrive? I can see it going two ways: a) try to implement the same power supply improvements to the inboard USB interface through upgraded substation or b) conclude that perhaps external USB interface has technical benefits and consider the option of a trimmed down overdrive which does not have an internal USB interface.
Thanks for doing the mod on my OR4 so quickly and posting the jitter analysis. Great to see you are really pushing the boundaries of what is possible in digital audio.
Steve, one more question: Is the wall-wart that you are currently shipping with OR5 the same as the one you were using for OR4 in December 2011?Cheers,Andrew
Any idea when the Off Ramp 6 will be released?
Steve, are you still planning on sending me Offramp 5 for AP measuements?
No preferences on my end. Whichever one measures and/or sounds better. You can send me both as it doesn't take a whole lot of time to measure them once setup is ready. My dac at home has input transformers on both aes/ebu and spdif inputs. I have squeezebox transporter at work I can connect it to and provide jitter plots on the analog out.
Hi Steve,Will the new OT mod come up on the SMR order page? Thanks!Charles
Hi Steve,Is it worth sending you my OR5 right away for OT mod or better to wait for OR6? (How much better will it be?)Do you plan to offer upgrade plans from OR5 to OR6 in the future?Best regards,Jean-Pierre


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One of the few things it's hard not to admire the Americans for is their positivity.
For a country that has its fair share of woe and trouble, Americans rightly pride themselves on seeing the glass half full rather than half empty. And one of the areas that this is perhaps most evident is in the dreaded 'recession' which has been dealt with very differently on either side of the Atlantic.
The recession was global of course. Prompted at first by an overvaluation of assets at US banks and clearing houses, it ultimately led to bank bailouts, credit crunches, and unemployment in just about every country in the world. But despite the ubiquity of the global economic misery, countries have reacted in very different ways to the economic collapse. Two examples: Ireland and the US.
Back home it's hard to escape mention of the recession. It's jokingly called the 'r' word, and people get so fussed about not mentioning it that the city of Cork has actually promulgated an official decree for a day in July during which no utterance of the dreaded word is to be made. The decree was made jokingly, of course, but there's a serious point too. The problem, as the Lord Mayor obviously realizes, is that people simply can't stop talking about it.
The Irish, myself included, have a slightly pessimistic slant that delights in misfortune. Fortunately it doesn't seem to effect our mental state –we're generally happy, outgoing people– but there's nothing better for the Irishman or woman than a good moan or a nice whinge, to unload some pent-up frustration at the world. And if it's not the weather you're moaning about, you have the recession. But that's the problem.
Constant talk of the recession has led to a huge amount of negativity in the Irish media, which in turn has created what David McWilliams calls a self-fulfilling prophecy.
It's a bit like the famous story about the cancer patient who's given a dummy pill and believes himself well. The placebo effect; the power of mind over matter, it's all the same thing really. If we believe and keep talking about Ireland in recession it will stay that way. If we can see light at the end of the tunnel then it will eventually shine forth.
This also isn't helped by the fact that despite deflation, Ireland is still an exceedingly expensive place to live, and it's no wonder that almost a third of us now fear going hungry. The latest survey from Eurostat showed us that Irish prices are still far in excess of what they could and should be. Despite fifteen months' of deflation you still don't see rock-bottom price deals, and we're still far out of line with the European average, which really tells you something about how steep are prices were before the economy even began contracting!
Cross the pond to America, though, and the situation on the street feels very different.
America may not be nearly as mired in economic turmoil as Ireland is, but when the word recession is used the context tends to be starkly different. If you were to go looking for the word 'recession' on a word-finding tour of midtown Manhattan, the first instance you'd probably encounter the word in would be: "Recession Buster! Chinese buffet combo just $4.50" rather than in the context of a radio news bulletin about the latest of a seemingly infinite series of job cuts.
There are 'recession busters' back home as well, of course, but they don't seem to be happening with as much frequency, or if they are they're not being as well advertised, as in America. Of course the situation's don't fit a perfect comparison, but the differences are there nonetheless.
Every Irish person has a natural suspicion of American positivity when it comes in the form of the mandatory 'have a great day, sir', which everyone Irish seems to instinctively mistrust, but when it comes in the form of a falsely positive belief in busting the recession, the American lesson is one which Ireland would do very well do learn from.

subset: commoncrawl


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This post on Greywulf's Lair explores the concept of a one axis sliding scale for character building:
One thing that all of these choices brings is the idea of a sliding scale. With 4e D&D, you can choose how much of the character concept affects the build, which in turn reflects the importance the PC places on the things which shape him (or her).
At the risk of being overly broad:
- What framework do you use when creating characters? [see DIP/DAS question for one example]
- How does this framework impact creation or playstyle?
- How generalizable is this framework?


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You are a classifieds website, a motor dealer or a real estate agency? You own an online inventory of ads and you would like to receive some additional traffic for free?
You can easily publish your ads amongst the search results of our search engine by sending us a simple XML feed which should be built according to the following specifications.
The inclusion of your ads in Sercanto needs 7 working days. Sercanto declines all responsibilities on the contents of the ads that are included and has the right to reject the submission.


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the allconsuming Christmas shopping guide 2012
Apparently it's 45 days until Christmas. This generally means it's 43 days until I start my Christmas shopping but this year I thought I'd mix it up and THINK about gifts as opposed to buying what was left on the shelf.
All the above are from Think Geek
T-shirts of awesome from dpcted:
I have a longstanding love for the humour and illustrations of Jason Sweeney:
I don't get it myself, but apparently this is totally necessary (it's a Razer Mamba gaming mouse) (apparently):
And that's just for starters.


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The AnandTech Podcast: Episode 11
by Anand Lal Shimpi on November 29, 2012 11:21 PM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Mobile
- Podcast
We're back! Brian and I recorded this one just after the holidays last week. Despite there not being a lot going on release wise, we had a bunch to talk about. Brian gave us updates on his experience with the Lumia 920, Droid DNA and Samsung's Galaxy Camera. I talk a bit about what the future holds for driving smartphone costs down, and we both talked about Nintendo's Wii U.
The AnandTech Podcast - Episode 11
featuring Anand Shimpi & Brian Klug
RSS - mp3, m4a
Direct Links - mp3, m4a
Total Time: 1 hour 48 minutes
Outline - hh:mm
Nokia Lumia 920 - 00:00
Wireless Charging - 00:08
The Lumia 920 vs. Windows Phone 8X - 00:10
Verizon's Droid DNA - 00:21
Driving Smartphone Costs Down - 00:31
Paul Otellini's Early Retirement - 00:44
Samsung Galaxy Camera - 00:53
Google Nexus 4 LTE - 01:09
Inside the Nintendo Wii U - 01:20
Black Magic Intensity Pro - 01:33
Apple iPad 4 - 01:35
As always, comments are welcome and appreciated.
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usopen65667268 - Friday, November 30, 2012 - link
Best podcast in the business by a mile! You guys are informative, humorous, nerdy, and above all else incredibly professional. I wish I could join a team like yours and contribute to what I believe is the Industry Standard in Technology. Keep up the great work and if you feel like you are getting buried and could use some help in whatever capacity possible, I would love such a gracious opportunity! -
jessicahutchins - Monday, December 3, 2012 - link
Alexis. although Barry`s comment is great, on monday I got a great new Lotus Carlton after having earned $4364 this last four weeks and a little over 10/k lass month. this is definitely the most financially rewarding Ive ever done. I started this nine months/ago and pretty much immediately started bringing in at least $75... p/h. I went to this website.. http://goo.gl/KVBmO -
Cibafsa - Friday, November 30, 2012 - link
Love the podcasts, always makes my week. Keep it up.
Hope Brian caught the big kudos he got from the Engadget team on their Mobile podcast. -
BellaLohan - Sunday, December 2, 2012 - link
my co-worker's mother makes $78 an hour on the computer. She has been fired for 9 months but last month her pay was $14159 just working on the computer for a few hours. (Click on menu Home more information)
http://goo.gl/961Xn -
dishayu - Friday, November 30, 2012 - link
Refering to the discussion around 25 min mark. I know this is a bit of a personal rant, but I absolutely can not and will not do without a physical keyboard. I was very very late on the smartphone bandwagon because there were no phones which had decent specs and a keyboard. I eventually bought a Xperia (not mini) Pro which i'm using still. Touchscreens are never and will never be as precise and nice-to-use as a physical keyboard. Although, I'm inclined to buy a Nexus 4 now because the nerd in me has a hard time resisting a knockout specsheet like that but i know i will hate using it because it has no keyboard. I wish someone comes out with a top shelf phone with a nice chunky keyboard and i would buy it in a heartbeat.
I think of myself as a bit of an oldschool guy. I never even use my a laptop if i have access to a desktop. I don't like laptop keyboards, they're almost as bad as touchscreens. I NEED the chunky mechanical keys on my BWU to feel good using my computer. -
s44 - Sunday, December 2, 2012 - link
Try typing on a Note 2. It's ridiculously easy. -
ssj3gohan - Monday, December 3, 2012 - link
well, Im coming from a Milestone and finally made the switch to the Note (1) and while I agree the divide isnt that great (and I am a hardcore physical keyboard lover), a virtual keyboard still doesnt have the feel you need to do touch typing. It is still necessary to look where you are touching your phone. If nowadays there were a European phone with HTC Dream-quality keyboard and decent specs I would go for it. Otherwise the huge Note screen gives ample room for a confortable thumb-type keyboard. -
teiglin - Friday, November 30, 2012 - link
I'm not usually a podcast person, but I love listening to you guys. Thanks!
Just want to toss in my 2c about one of Brian's becoming-ever-more-famous rants. While talking about the Droid DNA (and not ranting about the name, surprisingly), he mentioned the industry trend away from removable batteries and microSD slots. I agree mostly with what was said, but I had two points I wanted to make. First, on the battery thing, the issue for me with replaceable battery packs isn't swapping out the battery for a fully-charged one midday--this is a pain and not many people do this (though my brother is one of those people). However, lazy charging practices can easily damage batteries' longevity, and being able to replace that battery you know is only running at 70-80% of its new capacity with a $20 trip to Amazon is much more palatable than either voiding your warranty or trying to get a service center to replace it. As you say, between car chargers, microUSB battery packs, and simply bumming a cable/outlet somewhere (how many others have seen someone standing in the corner of a Starbucks with a plugged-in phone?), this isn't such a big deal. Having more ubiquitous inductive charging will also lessen the burden.
On the other side, my impetus for a microSD in a phone isn't to change it out; it's to avoid paying $100 to get another $5 of cheap NAND cells in my phone. It is really pathetic that HTC released a 16GB-only device with otherwise purely top-of-the-line components. I currently get by okay with my tegra3 One X (which is 32GB and no microSD), but was always more comfortable with my previous 16GB+64GB microSD--that level of storage means not having to worry about app install sizes while also allowing enough room for the media or nandroids I want to keep on my phone. Cloud is nice but with data running ~$10/GB on American carriers, streaming everything all the time is just not realistic. Of course, that situation makes a Nexus 4 on a magenta prepaid plan look pretty attractive, but I digress.
I realize 16GB is enough for many or even most people, but even my 63 year old mother has over 15GB of music on her phone as well as a few TV shows; she's fine with the 16GB+32GB microSD, and probably would be okay--if pushing it--on 32GB internal, but nonexpandable 16GB should be treated today as the embarassment it is. My point is that *high storage requirements are not unique to power users*. I'd perhaps be more forgiving if they had quality NAND cells with decent controllers, but as long as OEMs are using junk eMMC, they might as well load it up. I thought HTC was moving in the right direction with the One X+'s 64GB-only flavor, but the DNA proves that was the exception rather than the rule, I guess.
Didn't really expect to rant this much. Did anyone read this whole thing? Thanks! -
Peanutsrevenge - Friday, November 30, 2012 - link
Read it and fully agree.
While I DO carry around a spare battery with me (notoriously poor battery life phone, HTC Sensation), I don't see that as the point, rather the short overall life of current battery tech.
Same with Storage, although I do enjoy the option to carry around A LOT of data on seperate microSD cards, I realise few others do this.
What I don't understand is the current trend to ignore a not insignificant portion of the market, who will pay more than your average Joe for these features. -
iacoa - Friday, November 30, 2012 - link
SD slots take space so I don't care too much. But if phone makers are going to remove them then NAND shouldn't be so expensive. If I was Hynix, Samsung, or Micron I would extremely jealous of the margins smartphone makers are making off of NAND, especially Apple. 64 GB for $200? That costs $64 at most. Apple probably gets the best pricing so it costs even less.
$200. For that much money you can get 256 GB SSD.
Like Anand and Brian said smartphones will get cheaper. It will be interesting to see how Apple will react, but I don't think they'll be able to make sky high profits without losing market share.


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WEDNESDAY, April 7, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- A few years ago, Dr. Joseph Shrager, a professor of cardiothoracic surgery at Stanford University School of Medicine, noticed that lung cancer diagnoses were noticeably higher at age 65 than at slightly older or younger ages.
"There was no reason rates should differ much between the ages of 63 and 65," Shrager said.
He discussed this with his colleagues, who said they were seeing something similar.
"We decided to explore this, and its broader implications, in a larger population," Shrager said in a Stanford news release.
What did they find in their study? A sudden jump in cancer cases among Americans at age 65 may be due to the fact that many older adults delay care until they have Medicare coverage.
To arrive at this conclusion, the team analyzed data from hundreds of thousands of patients across the United States who were between the ages of 61 and 69 when they were diagnosed with lung, breast, colon or prostate cancer from 2004 to 2016.
The researchers found that there was a greater increase in diagnoses of those cancers at the transition from 64 to 65 than at all other age transitions.
Lung cancer diagnoses consistently increased 3%-4% each year among people ages 61-64, but the percentage doubled at 65.
The increase was even greater with colon cancer. Diagnoses increased 1%-2% annually in the years before Medicare eligibility, then jumped to nearly 15% at age 65.
In the years after age 65, diagnosis rates declined for all the cancers, according to the study published March 29 in the journal Cancer.
It also found that insured cancer patients older than 65 are more likely to have surgery, and that they have lower five-year cancer-specific death rates than younger uninsured cancer patients.
"Collectively, these results demonstrate that Medicare eligibility, an event coincident with becoming 65 years old, is associated with a rise in early-stage cancer diagnoses and a resulting survival benefit," the researchers wrote.
"Essentially we showed there is a big jump in cancer diagnoses as people turn 65 and are thus Medicare-eligible," said Shrager, the study's senior author. "This suggests that many people are delaying their care for financial reasons until they get health insurance through Medicare."
Delaying screenings or treatments for cancer can affect patients' chances of survival, Shrager warned.
The researchers noted that people aged 61-64 "often lack insurance as a result of early retirement, preexisting conditions hindering renewal, the high cost of private insurance and other causes."
Between 13% and 25% of adults in this age group are uninsured or have a gap in medical coverage at some point before they are eligible for Medicare.
"If you don't get the right screening or prompt diagnosis you are going to have lower cure rates," Shrager said. "This study underlines the important difference that some sort of Medicare expansion could make."
More information
The American Society of Clinical Oncology has more on older adults and cancer.
SOURCE: Stanford University School of Medicine, news release, March 30, 2021


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Irish band Lúnasa performs 7 p.m. Feb. 8 at the Mariner Theatre. Sponsored by the Homer Council on the Arts, Lúnasa also presents musical workshops at 2 p.m. Feb. 9. Admission is $10 youth, $20 HCOA members and seniors, and $30 general admission, available at HCOA or the Homer Bookstore. Workshops are $15 adults, $10 youth.
"The hottest Irish acoustic group on the planet," the New York Times called Lúnasa. An all-instrumental band, it includes instruments like the double bass as well as traditional Irish instruments like the fiddle, low whistles and uilleann pipes.
"We play a very diverse selection of music, including our own compositions, melodies from other Celtic regions such as Brittany, Galicia, Asturias and Scotland," said member Cillian Vallely. "The melodies are played on the traditional instruments of pipes, fiddle and flute, but the rhythmic and harmonic style — the bass and guitar style — give the band a very contemporary sound."
For more information, including music samples, visit www.lunasa.ie.


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Gold Price Drifts Lower, Eurozone Economy Shrinks, Global Gold Demand Down on Year in Q3
The Gold Price fell to $1720 per ounce Thursday morning in London, around ten Dollars down on the week, as stocks and the Euro also drifted lower following the release of weak economic growth data from the Eurozone.
The Silver Price dropped below $32.60 an ounce, more-or-less exactly where it started the week, while other industrial commodities edged higher.
"We like the price action of silver and think there is a good chance of another leg up," says the latest technical analysis from bullion bank Scotiabank.
Prices for longer dated US Treasury bonds meantime ticked lower this morning, as did prices for German bunds, while longer-dated UK gilts saw gains.
The Eurozone fell into recession in Q3, according to official gross domestic product data published Thursday.
Eurozone GDP shrank 0.1% from Q2, a 0.6% year-on-year drop. Germany and France both grew 0.2% quarter-on-quarter, while Italy's economy shrank by 0.2%. Spain's economy also contracted, shrinking 0.3% in the three months to end September, while in the Netherland GDP fell by 1.1% during Q3.
Eurozone inflation meantime fell to 2.5% in October, down from 2.6% a month earlier, consumer price index figures published by Eurostat show.
The European Central Bank's Outright Monetary Transactions program, under which the ECB proposes to buy sovereign debt in the secondary market, "will not lead to inflation", ECB president Mario Draghi told an audience at the Università Bocconi in Milan this morning.
"For every Euro we inject, we will withdraw a Euro," said Draghi.
"In our assessment, the greater risk to price stability currently is associated with the possibility of falling prices in some Euro area countries."
Federal Reserve policymakers meantime discussed the use of using quantitative economic thresholds to communicate their outlook on policy when they met last month, minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee published Wednesday show.
The Fed has said it will buy $40 billion of mortgage backed securities a month until there is a "substantial improvement" in the US labor market, although it has not defined what that means. The Fed is also due to continue with its maturity program known as Operation Twist, which attempts to 'flatten' the yield curve for US Treasury bonds, until it expires at the end of this year.
"Looking ahead," the FOMC minutes say, "a number of participants indicated that additional asset purchases would likely be appropriate next year after the conclusion of the maturity extension program in order to achieve a substantial improvement in the labor market."
Global gold demand fell 11% in the third quarter compared to the same period last year – an all-time record quarter –although it was up 10% from Q2 this year, according to the latest Gold Demand Trends published by the World Gold Council Thursday.
Demand from India, traditionally the world's largest market, was up 9% compared to Q3 2011.
"The strong year-on-year performance was partly reflective of price expectations among Indian consumers," the report says, noting that the Rupee Gold Price rose to hit new records towards the end of the quarter.
"This fed expectations of further price rises," the report adds, "which – in a slight departure from historical precedent...encouraged consumers to buy into the rising trend."
The value of the Rupee measured against the Dollar was on average 20% lower in Q3 2012 than over the corresponding period last year.
In contrast with India, Q3 Gold Bullion demand from world number two China was down 8% year-on-year, with investment demand for Gold Bars and coins down 12%.
"The preference among Chinese to buy into a clear rising price largely explains the drop in investment demand, as range bound price action during July and much of August curbed demand," the Gold Demand Trends report says, adding that slower economic growth also "had a negative impact on consumer sentiment".
"Since the Chinese economy has stabilized following its poor third-quarter growth," a note from Commerzbank says, "Chinese gold demand can also be expected to gather pace again."
Central banks meantime bought 97.6 tonnes of Gold Bullion during the third quarter, according to the report, which adds that in six of the last seven quarters central bank demand has been around 100 tonnes.
"Gold is beginning to re-establish itself as part of the fabric of the financial system," says Marcus Grubb, managing director, investment at the World Gold Council.
"Against a backdrop of continued global economic uncertainty and elections in China and the US, it is clear from five year rising demand trends that gold's fundamental property as a vehicle for capital preservation continues to endure, as evidenced by this quarter's increase in global ETF investment, up 56% and continued purchasing by central banks, the ultimate long term investors."
On the supply side, Gold Mining production was down 1% year-on-year in Q3, according to Gold Demand Trends. The chief executive of world's largest gold producer Barrick said this week that new gold deposits are being found at a declining rate, despite record exploration spending.
Overall supply down 2% following a reduction in the amount of gold being recycled in industrialized nations. US gold recycling firm Cash4Gold filed for bankruptcy in July.
Get the safest gold at the lowest price on BullionVault...


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Kathy Hochul on Budget & Economy | |
A bill to increase the debt limit from $14.3 trillion to $16.7 trillion.
[Explanatory note from Wikipedia.com `Debt Ceiling Crisis`]:
The US debt-ceiling crisis was a financial crisis in 2011 that started as a debate in the Congress about increasing the debt ceiling. The immediate crisis ended when a complex deal was reached that raised the debt ceiling and reduced future government spending. However, similar debates are anticipated for the 2012 and 2013 budget. President Barack Obama and Speaker of the House John Boehner announced on July 31 that an agreement had been achieved. After the legislation was passed by both the House and Senate, President Obama signed the Budget Control Act. On August 5, the credit-rating agency Standard & Poor`s downgraded the credit rating of US government bond for the first time in the country`s history.
Under US law, an administration can spend only if it has sufficient funds to pay for it. These funds can come either from tax receipts or from borrowing. Congress has set a debt ceiling, beyond which Treasury cannot borrow. The Obama administration stated that, without this increase, the federal government would shut down and the US would enter sovereign default, thereby creating an international crisis in the financial markets. Alternatively, default could be averted if the government were to promptly reduce its other spending by about half.
An increase in the debt ceiling requires the approval of both houses of Congress. A large majority of Democratic legislators (who held a majority in the Senate) favored tax increases along with smaller spending cuts. Supporters of the Tea Party movement pushed their fellow Republicans to reject any agreement that failed to incorporate large and immediate spending cuts or a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced budget.


text: When a baby is on the way, there are a myriad of resources for pregnant women to consult. BabyBump, a pregnancy tracker and social health network for expecting moms and dads, has condensed those resources into one go-to app. Monitor your baby's progress through weekly realistic embryo pictures and updates on size, weight and development. Count down to the big day while tracking day-to-day shifts in mood, energy, cravings and morning sickness. Chat with other parents via the app's social forums, or peruse the latest baby products in the BabyBump shop.


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Ann Althouse Says Sexual Threats and False Claims of a Venereal Disease Are "Exactly What We Always Used to Say People Had to Put Up With in a Free Country"
The Wall Street Journal law blog reports:
In the latest chapter of the AutoAdmit.com scandal, two female Yale Law School students have sued Anthony Ciolli, the Web site's former "chief educational director," and more than two dozen others who allegedly used pseudonyms and posted the students' photos as well as defamatory and threatening remarks about them on the online law-school discussion forum….
. . . .
"It's bringing the right to protect yourself against offensive words and images into the 21st century," said David N. Rosen, a New Haven, Conn.-based attorney for the students and a senior research scholar in law at Yale Law to the Law Blog in an interview. "This is the scummiest kind of sexually offensive tripe," he said of the postings about the women on AutoAdmit.
Cheered on by Glenn Reynolds, blogger Ann Althouse replies:
Isn't "the scummiest kind of sexually offensive tripe" exactly what we always used to say people had to put up with in a free country? Man, that was so 20th century!
Look, I can respect an argument that the lawsuit against the website operator lacks merit. The law seems to me fairly well established that web site operators are not responsible for the nonsense asserted by commenters. (Were it otherwise, there's a lot of stupid crap some of you folks write that I'd be responsible for.)
What I don't understand is Althouse's (and Reynolds's) mocking the concerns of the plaintiffs, as if they were just whining over nothing. To me, these comments suggest an unfamiliarity with the actual allegations of the complaint.
Never mind the several allegedly false claims that one or more of the plaintiffs had a) received low LSAT scores; 2) bribed their way into Yale Law School; 3) had a lesbian affair with the Dean of Admissions at Yale Law School; and 4) committed sexual assault. To me, these seem defamatory (if false) — and guess what? At least one of the students had a hard time getting a summer job. Imagine that!
But as if that weren't enough, the complaint lists several sexual threats and false claims of a sexual nature. (Warning: If you're disturbed by strong language, read no further.)
For example, Paragraph 27 of the complaint states:
27. The message thread, entitled "Stupid Bitch to Attend Yale Law," contains numerous threats, usually of a sexual nature, and false claims about Doe I including:
- "i'll force myself on her, most definitely." (posted under the user name, "neoprag")
- "I think I will sodomize her. Repeatedly." (posted by "neoprag")
- "just don't FUCK her, she has herpes" (posted by ":D")
In other posts, commenters encouraged one another to follow one of the plaintiffs and take pictures of her. One of the posters did, and then commenters made crude sexual comments about her under the picture, which was obviously posted without her consent. Typical of the comments: "i want to titty fuck her for persian new year." (Paragraph 48.) [UPDATE: To be clear, the pictures were posted on another site, and merely linked (with crude commentary) on the AutoAdmit.com site.] [FURTHER UPDATE: Upon closer examination of the complaint, there is no specific allegation that the pictures that were linked (and posted on another site) were taken by a stalker, even though such behavior was encouraged.]
In paragraph 38 we see this:
[O]ne pseudonymous poster named "Spanky" said, "[c]learly she deserves to be raped so that her little fantasy world can be shattered by real life." Another pseudonymous poster using the name "vlsdooder" made a similar sexual threat against Doe I, "i would like to hate-fuck [Doe I] but since people say she has herpes that might be a bad idea," on a thread entitled "Which female YLS students would you sodomize?"
I could go on and on — but you get the idea.
Now, I'm not saying this is grounds for a lawsuit against the web site owner.
But I find it hard to believe that these threats of a sexual nature — and false claims that someone has a venereal disease — are fairly described as "exactly what we always used to say people had to put up with in a free country."
Since when?
UPDATE: Althouse updates her post (in response to this one) to note her lack of support for defamation:
I want to see "the scummiest kind of sexually offensive tripe" protected. That doesn't mean I support defamation or the revelation of private facts or impersonating someone by name on a website. Those are different matters, and I don't mean to express an opinion as to whether any torts like that are alleged in the complaint. I just want to remind people to keep our free speech bearings. We have lost our way if we've forgotten the importance of protecting speech that is "scummy" and "offensive" and "tripe."
But the "sexually offensive tripe" discussed in the complaint includes sexual threats, which Althouse notably does not exclude from the universe of things that "we always used to say people had to put up with in a free country."
UPDATE x2: Eugene Volokh has a much better take on this. I discuss his arguments in this post.


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DENVER (Dec. 14, 2010) – A decade after the 9/11 attacks, significant parts of America's most prominent downtowns remain largely sealed off as `security zones,' but a newly published study by University of Colorado Denver professor Jeremy Németh says this has led to blighted landscapes, limited public access and a need for a new approach to urban planning.
"Our most open, public cities are becoming police states," said Németh, assistant professor of planning and design whose study was recently published in Environment and Planning A. "While a certain amount of security is necessary after terror attacks, no amount of anti-terror architecture would have stopped the 9/11 attacks, or the Madrid or London subway bombings. And by limiting access and closing off space, we limit the potential for more `eyes on the street' to catch possible acts in the process."
But given the reality of continued terror threats like the recent plots to bomb downtown Portland, Ore. and New York City, Németh says `security zones' must now be considered a new type of land use similar to parks, open space and sidewalks.
"They must be planned and designed in ways that involve the public and are useful to downtown built environments," said Németh, director of the Master of Urban Design Program at the University of Colorado Denver College of Architecture and Planning. "Right now they consist of haphazard placement of metal gates, Jersey barriers and cones, but if these are to become permanent additions to the urban landscapes, we must understand how to integrate them into the existing built fabric."
Németh's study, the first to compare public and private security districts in more than one city, looked at areas of downtown Los Angeles, New York City and San Francisco and found that while each city values and protects potential targets equally, what is deemed off-limits varies widely.
For example, 35.7 percent of New York's civic center district is within a `security zone,' meaning it is accessible only to for those with proper clearance, while only 3.4 percent of San Francisco's civic center area has the same designation. Meanwhile, 23-acres of public space in Los Angeles sit in a `security zone.'
Németh said the zones not only affect the appearance of landmark buildings but also reflect an 'architecture of fear' as evidenced, for example, by the bunker-like appearance of embassies and other perceived targets.
Ultimately, he said, these places impart a dual message - simultaneously reassuring the public while causing a sense of unease.
And in the end, their effect could be negligible.
"Indeed, overt security measures may be no more effective than covert intelligence techniques," he said. "But the architecture aims to comfort both property developers concerned with investment risk and residents and tourists with the notion that terror threats are being addressed and that daily life will soon `return to normal.'"
The College of Architecture and Planning is among the largest colleges of architecture and related design and planning disciplines in the U.S. Located on the University of Colorado Denver's downtown campus and the University of Colorado-Boulder, CAP brings together faculty, students and practitioners who share common pursuits in communities of interest including: emerging practices in design, sustainable urbanism, the creation of healthy environments and the preservation of cultural heritage. CAP is one of 13 schools and colleges at UC Denver. The University offers more than 120 degrees and serves more than 28,000 students in Metro Denver and online. For additional news and information, please visit the UC Denver newsroom.


text: Detainees at the U.S. military base at Guantánamo Bay launched a hunger strike today marking the prison's 10th anniversary, inspired in part by U.S. activists who have called for a national day of action. "They will be staging a series of peaceful protests that will involve sit-ins with signs and banners in the part of the prison that has communal areas, as well as hunger strikes," says Ramzi Kassem, counsel to a number of Guantánamo prisoners. He notes his clients pay "particularly close attention to any gestures of protest in the United States… And they're always very moved by the fact that Americans stand in solidarity with what they're going through and what their families are experiencing." On Wednesday, a major demonstration is planned in Washington, D.C., where organizers say they will form a human chain stretching from the White House to the Capitol, with participants wearing orange jumpsuits to represent the prisoners at Guantánamo and at the Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan who are still held without charge or trial.


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Jack in the Box Inc. disclosed the details of two refranchising transactions that were included in the company's fourth-quarter operating results, which were announced on November 19.
On August 20, the company sold to RRH-Austin 35 Jack in the Box restaurants in Austin, Texas, and on September 24, the company sold to JIB QSR Oklahoma seven Jack in the Box restaurants in its Oklahoma City market.
Proceeds related to the sale of these 42 restaurants totaled approximately $19.1 million.
Oklahoma City is one of five markets in the Jack in the Box system "seeded" with company-operated locations.
"By pursuing an innovative 'seeding' strategy and taking a collaborative approach to new market development, Jack in the Box is able to secure great locations, open restaurants with the full support of our marketing and operations teams, and establish a sales history and cash flows that could help a franchisee secure the necessary financing to continue expanding in the market," says Grant Kreutzer, director of franchise licensing & recruitment for Jack in the Box.
Including these locations in Austin and Oklahoma City, Jack in the Box refranchised 97 restaurants in fiscal 2012.
The transactions reflect the company's strategic initiative to expand franchising and franchise ownership in the Jack in the Box system.
The Jack in the Box system is now nearly 76 percent franchised versus 25 percent in 2005.
The company is currently seeking experienced, multiunit restaurant operators to refranchise other company markets in the Southeast and Midwest.
In Tulsa, Oklahoma; Kansas City; Indianapolis, Indiana; and Cincinnati, Ohio, franchisees can acquire up to 10 recently opened restaurants, then further develop the market with royalty and franchise fee incentives.


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I presume Alex Little put this together after reading the NY Times piece on Warren Mosler and MMT in which I was (mis)quoted as saying that MMT has no footprint in the academic press. It's not an exhaustive list, but you'll be exhausted by the time you reach the end.
Follow: twitter.com/deficitowl


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Researchers have solved the genetic mystery of Indian white tigers. Their spectacular white coats are produced by a single change in a known pigment gene, according to the study, appearing on May 23 in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication. "The white tiger represents part of the natural genetic diversity of the tiger that is worth conserving, but is now seen only in captivity," says Shu-Jin Luo of China's Peking University.
Luo, Xiao Xu, Ruiqiang Li, and their colleagues advocate a proper captive management program to maintain a healthy Bengal tiger population including both white and orange tigers. They say it might even be worth considering the reintroduction of white tigers into their wild habitat.
The researchers mapped the genomes of a family of 16 tigers living in Chimelong Safari Park, including both white and orange individuals. They then sequenced the whole genomes of each of the three parents in the family.
Those genetic analyses led them to a pigment gene, called SLC45A2, which had already been associated with light coloration in modern Europeans and in other animals, including horses, chickens, and fish. The variant found in the white tiger primarily inhibits the synthesis of red and yellow pigments but has little to no effect on black, which explains why white tigers still show characteristic dark stripes.
Historical records of white tigers on the Indian subcontinent date back to the 1500s, Luo notes, but the last known free-ranging white tiger was shot in 1958. That many white tigers were hunted as mature adults suggests that they were fit to live in the wild. It's worth considering that tigers' chief prey species, such as deer, are likely colorblind.
Captive white tigers sometimes do show abnormalities, such as crossed eyes, but Luo says any frailties are likely the responsibility of humans, who have inbred the rare tigers in captivity. With the causal gene identified, the researchers ultimately hope to explore the evolutionary forces that have maintained tigers in both orange and white varieties.


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'We need a different society where food is decentralised and people live and work in small rural communities, but this needs massive social change to bring about a new direction and it will not happen overnight, no we are talking about generations of time and the political will needs to be with it, that may well be the greatest challenge of all.' ~ Iain Tolhurst
Farming Today: Climate
It's quite easy to bury your head in the sand but even with our heads fully submerged, our bottoms cannot ignore the fact that over the last five years they have been intermittently frozen, drenched, dried out and/or baked at the most odd and unexpected of times.
In recent years the UK has started to see much drier springs, wetter summers and colder winters, and farmers have had to start adapting to these changes. Those of us not living off the land might well be crossing our fingers tightly and hoping that next year's weather will go back to 'normal'. However, if producing food is your livelihood, you simply cannot take the chance — the slugs will win and farmers have had no choice but to assume that this is how our climate means to go on. One Welsh Organic farmer I met this year told me that a future where most of her vegetable crops are grown undercover may well have just arrived.
Farming Today: Crude Oil
Over the last century, crude oil (or petroleum) has become the black gold of our generation. This dark slime that humans have managed to morph into extremely powerful energy has enabled consumerism to boom at concord pace. And we have left a snaily trail of destruction, pollution and runaway climate change in our black gold's path. For, as fossil fuels such as crude oil are burnt, carbon is released into the atmosphere increasing the levels of carbon dioxide in the air, which is believed to rapidly increase the speed at which climate change is coming about.
The seemingly unending flow and unrivaled power of cheap oil in the twentieth century has precipitated a widespread addiction to its supremacy. And the consequence is our absolute dependence on it in all areas of our lives, and particularly within agriculture. As Iain Tollhurst, a leading Stockfree Organic food grower based in Oxfordshire points out, us Brits no longer seem happy just to consume oil as a raw material to power our machinery. "We are now eating oil", he says, in every stage of conventional agriculture — from the packaging, the global transport system, through to the nitrogen fertiliser. In truth, petroleum oil is used in pretty much every stage of the food chain as well, right from the field to the collection of our landfill and food waste in big oil-guzzling trucks.
Come the twenty-first century, however, this much loved fossil fuel is starting to run out. Many believe we have reached 'peak oil', which is 'the point in time when the maximum rate of petroleum extraction has been reached, after which rates of production are expected to enter into terminal decline.' As oil prices have hit the roof, our desperation to find more so that we can 'keep calm and carry on', allows us to ransack the earth for any last dregs but much of these dregs are incredibly fossil fuel intensive to access.
Just look at Canada's Tar Sands (sometimes known as oil sands or bituminous sands), which is a form of unconventional petroleum deposit. Accessing this oil generates a higher amount of carbon emissions for the same quantity of final product than the production of conventional oil. In other words, we are burning a colossal amount of fossil fuels, resulting in more carbon emissions, to get our hands on more fossil fuels, in order to burn more fossil fuels, meaning we need more fossil fuels in order to access more fossil fuels. And so on. To me, this is the behaviour of addicts or just plain madness.
The panic that can arise inside us at the thought that if oil ran out, our lives might have to adapt quite significantly, seems quickly to be assuaged by the illusory mantra: "Don't worry, we'll find more!" And for a moment, we might feel reassured – for aren't humans clever? Surely, we'll find a way! So, we might find more. But will future generations keep finding more of this fossil fuel too? And is nuclear fusion really the answer either? Here are some thoughts:
1) Oil is a fossil fuel and it is running out.
2) Conventional food and farming is highly dependent upon oil and we need to find sustainable methods of feeding a growing population.
3) We need to do this in spite of increasingly expensive oil and a rapidly changing climate.
4) Being less oil-dependent and less driven by the need to consume things other than the food that sustains us may not be as awful as we thought. It could even lead to greater well-being!
Low-Carbon Farming
In response to both the oil and the climate crises we are facing, there is definitely and thankfully a growing movement of farmers and food growers in the UK who are experimenting with and adopting a variety of inspiring pre-petrochemical wisdoms, alongside pioneering new low carbon farming methods. Recent schools of thought would even use the term 'agro-ecological farming' rather than 'low-carbon farming', as something which nods to the fact that we need to attend to more issues than just carbon emissions, such as water quality and quantity, our bees, general biodiversity and soil degradation.
Finally, even the government is admitting that we need to do something to address our nation's carbon emissions and that farming is a good place in which to start — which shouldn't be surprising since the food we eat accounts for 30 percent of the UK's carbon footprint, according to a 2010 report published by WWF-UK and the Food Climate Research Network.
Low carbon farming, according to the Soil Association, involves the adoption of practices and techniques that lead to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and improved energy efficiency. It aims to primarily control and regulate methane and nitrous oxide through soil, livestock and manure management practices while concentrating on reducing fossil fuel and fertiliser use and maximising carbon sequestration to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
As well as being better for the planet, there is much evidence to show that less fossil fuel intensive farming has benefits for the farmers and growers too. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), in a 2012 report, states that low carbon farming also presents business opportunities and can improve business efficiency. (Again, this shouldn't really be surprising given the ever increasing fertiliser and fuel costs farmers face). DEFRA suggests not only that low carbon farming could help farmers/growers meet growing customer demands for sustainability, save them money and increase their base income, but could also help to safeguard the future of their farm business.
Re-learning How to Live: The Urban
I first observed low-carbon farming in action in my early twenties when I began volunteering and eventually working at some incredible London-based community food projects: Spitalfields City Farm a city farm intersecting the City of London and the hugely deprived borough of Tower Hamlets; OrganicLea a workers' co-operative based in Waltham Forest and Hackney based social enterprise Growing Communities.
Through these projects, I discovered revolutionary ideas on food sustainability, the power of the grassroots and for the first time in my life, I experienced a real sense of community. I found driven individuals, dedicated to these little green idylls, miraculously growing food and farming animals despite and because of the concrete skyline. These projects, alongside many others, provide essential rehabilitation services, serve as powerful tools for community cohesion, improved health and well-being, and education and more often than not, they do this on a shoestring. Community food projects are invaluable in re-connecting people not only with where their food comes from, but in re-connecting people with themselves and with their communities.
Powerful as they are, however, community food projects practicing low-carbon farming methods in London are unlikely to realistically be able to feed its urban population, which is expanding daily. The more I began to learn about people-focussed food systems (food sovereignty), climate change, peak oil and the potential for these issues to be addressed by changing our farming practices, the more I began to wonder what was going on beyond the crowded Capital.
So, in search of some answers, at the start of this growing season my partner, Pip, and I left behind our urban lives. Cycling away from the metropolis that had been home for most of our lives, we pedalled out to the countryside to seek out some rural low carbon farming projects.
Re-learning How to Live: The Rural
Through an organisation called World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF) we began volunteering on a range of low carbon farming projects around the UK, working around 6 hours a day, 5 days a week, in return for board and lodging. We spent one to two weeks at a project before cycling onto the next one.
Over these last 6 months we have 'WWOOFed' at around twelve different projects in Dorset, Devon, Somerset and in Wales. These projects have ranged in scale from family small-holdings on 10 acres, to intentional communities on 50 acres, suburban homes with a back garden and 'small-scale' commercial organic farms on 400 acres. We have observed a variety of different low-carbon farming methods, including the complete exclusion of fossil fuels in land management (i.e., everything farmed using hand tools), to forest gardening, night slug patrol, the use of working horses in the fields and for extracting logs, to experiments with burying biochar under crops for sequestering carbon.
We have found these fair isles to be truly beautiful, despite this year's seemingly relentless rain and climate change. And we have experienced the most wonderful human kindness and generosity time and again. Humbled by those who have opened their doors to us, we have observed a diversity of people giving their lives to exploring ways of living and working on the land in a low impact way, mindful of all the earth's inhabitants.
Low-carbon Farming/Living in Action: A Synthesis
On our travels, we discovered the Peasant Evolution Producers Co-operative, a collective of small-scale producers in West Dorset, South Somerset and East Devon who have joined together to help each other make a viable living off the land. They believe that being a peasant is a way towards the future. They promote organic farming and sustainable land management, fairtrade, rural crafts and handmade, healthy local food.
We also met a young family living off grid in mid-Wales, helping to manage 22 acres of land which belongs to members of the Dyfed Permaculture Farm Trust. This family stoically cycle their two young children everywhere despite the hills, supply 70% of their fruit and vegetable needs (in a good year) and make all the hay on site by hand with scythes, to sell and to use as a mulch in the gardens. As well as managing the land sustainably, The Trust sells wildflower seed to support the development of new wildflower meadows, hosts educational visits and courses that empower people to live and work in a more sustainable way through learning and practicing new skills, provides space for local people to grow food, graze animals and set up small livelihoods.
We visited Lammas, an eco-village currently under construction in mid-Wales, which has influenced Welsh planning law to make low-impact housing more accessible for people who want to build their own. Lammas combines the traditional small-holding model with the latest innovations in environmental design, green technology and permaculture. The planning permission which they have managed to attain for the site has been designed using a method that can be replicated across Wales, paving the way for many more people who want to live a low impact life on the land.
Finally, there is one project, Tinkers Bubble, which for many reasons made the greatest impression on Pip and I of all the projects we have 'WWOOFed' at in the UK this growing season.
Tinkers Bubble is an intentional community, set up around eighteen years ago, living on 40 acres of land; part woodland, part orchard, part pasture, in Somerset. The members live in low-impact dwellings in the woodland, which the community worked incredibly hard to attain temporary planning permission for. They grow as much as they can of their own fruit and vegetables, and variously keep a couple of cows and some chickens for meat, dairy and eggs. Tinkers Bubble earns a small amount of money by pressing by hand the organically grown apples from their orchard and selling the bottles of apple juice locally. They also sell their sustainably produced timber which is felled from their woodland by hand, logged using a working horse called Dolly and cut using a steam powered sawmill (that looks like a cousin of Thomas the Tank Engine). What unites the folk of Tinkers Bubble is a commitment to banning the use of fossil fuels on site, except in paraffin lamps, which are only kept in case of a night-time emergency. Tinkers Bubble are determined to be a community that not just survives but thrives without fossil fuels.
What really struck me about Tinkers Bubble was how passionately its members felt about the way of life that they had chosen. In actively choosing to reject a fossil fuel dependent life, they seemed to have discovered a life they found healthy, fulfilling and perfectly comfortable. No – this is not a return to the 'Middle Ages'; members charge their mobiles and laptops using solar and wind power and even give birth to babies in the local hospital. Tinkers Bubble is by no means a rejection of all things modern. To me, Tinkers Bubble seems to be a real life example of people trying their best to live a low impact, engaged and harmonious life, embracing the knowledge that humans have collated over our oil-rich years, but choosing wisely how to use this knowledge. It is a community experimenting with innovative low-carbon living and farming methods, whilst opening their doors to all who were interested in finding out more. Tinkers Bubble was about as far away from a post-oil apocalyptic nightmare as I could imagine; instead it enabled me to see for myself how exciting a future without endlessly cheap fossil fuels could be.
I am not suggesting for a moment that Tinkers Bubble or any of the other projects I have mentioned, hold the absolute answer to how we are going to go about stopping runaway climate change or to how we can feed a growing global population. Or that everybody would enjoy the Tinkers Bubble experience as much as I did. But what I am so grateful to all of these projects for, is for allowing me to experience for myself how other ways of life are possible, not just in theory, but in practice, and not just out of necessity, but out of choice. What's more, I feel that if the conventional Western capitalist system comes to fail in the future (or more likely, when), these experiments in alternative ways of living now will be vital in creating the conventions of tomorrow.
Being able to share in the lives of people living in such a way that enables both well-being of self and the potential for others' well-being gives me a huge sense of hope in light of future changes and challenges. As a member of one of the projects we visited so wisely pointed out, choosing a low-carbon lifestyle at this stage in human history is a choice, at once political and personal: 'It is what we believe in and it's what makes us happy,' she said. 'We're not just doing this because it seems the right thing – we're doing it because it's what makes us happy.'
What we owe the future
is not a new start, for we can only begin
with what has happened. We owe the future
the past, the long knowledge
that is the potency of time to come.From 'At a long funeral' by Wendell Berry
Naomi Glass has worked on several different local and community-based farms, travelling around the UK to work and learn from other farmers.


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By Cameron Houston
VICTORIA'S liquor licensing authority is investigating a nightclub promoter who told several schoolgirls via social media to ''kill yourself'' after they asked to have provocative images removed from the venue's Facebook page.
The young women had attended the Pens Down party at CBD nightclub Roxanne Parlour, where students celebrated the end of year 12 before VCE exams began last week.
Pens Down promoter Christian Serrao posted 262 photographs on the event's Facebook page, which included about 30 images of schoolgirls posing provocatively and kissing each other.
Some of the girls were embarrassed by the photographs, while others were under 18 and not legally permitted to enter licensed premises.
Other images taken on a river cruise promoted by Mr Serrao showed a young man in school uniform vomiting from the side of a boat.
When several students asked Mr Serrao to delete the images, he posted the following response: ''I just love how these year 12s are happy to get their tits out for photos, then send threatening messages if they're not deleted off our Facebook page. Kill Yourself.''
Yesterday, Mr Serrao defended the post and said the expression ''kill yourself'' was an internet meme that was not meant to be taken literally.
''It's a comedic thing that's all over the internet,'' Mr Serrao said. ''Some people won't understand it but you can Google it and see for yourself.''
He said all requests to delete the images had been complied with, after some of the young women expressed concerns that their parents would find them or they were unhappy with their appearance.
The practice of using provocative images of young women to promote functions was widespread across Melbourne's nightclub industry, Mr Serrao said.
''There's always girls kissing and doing sexy little things,'' he said. ''You get 1 per cent who wake up the next day and aren't happy and ask us to take them down.''
He said Roxanne Parlour required proof of age and scanned identification before entry but conceded that some under-aged patrons ''fall through the cracks''.
A spokesman for the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation confirmed it was investigating the Pens Down event held on October 24.
Liberty Victoria chairman Spencer Zifcak said the abuse of Facebook sites reinforced the need for privacy legislation.
''This would seem to be a situation where everyone is behaving badly,'' Mr Zifcak said. ''These young women have been foolish, while the promoter's response is a disgrace. But these students are vulnerable and if they, or their parents, ask for the images to be removed, they should be taken down immediately.''
Last year, The Sunday Age revealed that parents from several prominent private schools had considered suing St Kilda's Prince of Wales hotel, after images of their daughters, some just 16, had been used to promote the venue. Promoter and music industry figure Frank Cotela was sacked by the owners of Prince of Wales two weeks after the legal threats were made. At the time, St Michael's Grammar principal Simon Gipson said he was deeply concerned by the exploitation of the students on social media sites.
''We deplore the manner in which young women are commodified and sexualised in this way,'' he said.


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The COSPIN instrument image page
This is a photograph of the Dual Anisotropy Telescopes (ATs). The ATs are outlined with a yellow line. The LET (Low Energy Telescope) is also shown outlined with a green circle. The cover shown in this picture covering the LET was opened after launch. The bottom third of the box actually contains the data processing unit (DPU). The DPU collects measurements from all of the telescopes on COSPIN and sends them to the spacecraft data system.This is a photograph of the High Energy Telescope (HET) and the High Flux Telescope (HFT). The HFT is the small fan-shaped object on top of the box (outlined in blue). The HET is outlined in purple. You can see that the HFT has a bronze strip covering it and the HET has a large, circular gold cover on it. Both of these covers were opened after launch.
This is a photograph of the Kiel Electron Telescope (KET).
These are photographs of some of the sensors that make up the COSPIN instrument.
Images were adapted from ESA (European Space Agency) images
Last modified March 6, 2001 by Jennifer Bergman.


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This article is more than 1 year old
US woman says Ubuntu can't access internet
Shuttleworth baby kills college dream
An American woman has told a TV station in Madison, Wisconsin that something called Ubuntu prevented her from joining online classes at her local technical college.
According to WKOW TV, Abbie Schubert recently ordered a Dell laptop, expecting "your classic bread-and-butter computer." But when she unboxed the $1,100 machine that arrived on her doorstep, she didn't find bread and butter. She found Ubuntu.
WKOW TV called Ubuntu "an operating system for your computer similar to Windows that runs off the Linux system."
"It's been a mess," Schubert said. "I regret ordering the computer."
She had never heard of Ubuntu. So she called Dell. Dell said there was still time to replace her Ubuntu. Then Dell told her not to. "The person I was talking to said Ubuntu was great, college students loved it, it was compatible with everything I needed," she explained.
So she kept her Ubuntu, then decided that Ubuntu doesn't always work like Windows. Her Verizon internet wouldn't load. She couldn't install Microsoft Word. And she said without Word and the internet, she couldn't take online classes at Madison Area Technical College.
So she dropped out of the college's fall and spring semesters.
Then Dell said it was too late for bread and butter.
"I'm extremely frustrated," Schubert said. "I wanted to get back to school, but I needed a computer to be able to do that."
Yes, that's fall and spring semesters. At Madison Area Technical College. ®


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Alexander the Great is Robert Rossen's odd film out. He'd started writing snappy Warners films in the 30s, graduated to direction with the noir Johnny O'Clock in the 40s and gave us a short list of interesting attempts (Island in the Sun, Lilith) and bonafide classics (Body and Soul, The Hustler).
This epic isn't particularly well remembered. Most of its action scenes lack the grandiosity and spectacle favored in the genre, and by following the contours of the real Alexander's life we're left with an ending that's quite a letdown. Some reviewers find Richard Burton terribly miscast in a wig with golden locks.
But Rossen's incisively intelligent, literate script seems to be a critique of empire builders and self-proclaimed conquerors in general, the kind who know how to win wars but are unprepared make the peace work afterwards. Clearly released to coincide with an expected 2004 version from the Oliver Stone factory of social filmmaking, this first version of Alexander the Great does indeed look great on DVD.
Not until Spartacus was there a thinking man's sword and sandal epic that could challenge Alexander the Great. Robert Rossen seems eager to paint a grand-scale picture of how politics have worked since the beginning of recorded history. Alexander has been raised to be a conqueror and set against his father by his mother. He basically renounces both of them, allowing his father to be assassinated in a cynical maneuver, and ignoring his mother while keeping her alive to help quash a threat to his power from Philip's second wife Eurydice (Marisa de Leza) and her newborn child. Provacateurs and courtly enemies like the scheming Attalus (Stanley Baker) are dealt with harshly. Alexander's killings happen mostly offscreen, which is understandable when we learn that his mother has pitched the usurping baby of Eurydice into a fire. The film takes its empire building seriously.
There are certainly enough books on Alexander to fill a library, but Rossen does his best to flesh out a character difficult to understand. On many counts the script goes against audience expectations. There is no real romance between Alex and Claire Bloom's Barsine, only debate about the issues at hand. In a complicated series of events (her father revolts, is betrayed by Persian generals and vanquished) Barsine is taken as a spoil of victory to Alex's tent. She submits, and implores him to realize that his self-proclaimed God-hood means that he is Greece, he is the state, much like Spartacus' Marcus Licinius Crassus.
Alexander handles strategies and leadership challenges with ease. When his father is killed, he wins over the loyalty of an army that could reject his kingship. He knows that to win he must keep pressing forward forever. He handles Darius' contemptuous threats with aplomb and self-assurance.
All of this allows us to fully understand the meaning of the Gordian Knot. An entire region will either accept or fight him depending on whether he can untangle a knot on an oxcart that determines the area's rightful ruler. Alex just hacks it in two with his sword. So much for anybody else's rules, customs or demands. Conquerors don't ask, negotiate or bargain for their victories, they just take them. Real power is the kind that can cut through red tape as easily as a bronze age sword can slice through a knot of rotten old rope.
The cast is superb, and the stylized 'ancient-speak' speeches roll off their lips with natural ease. Barry Jones is a wily Aristotle, Nial MacGinnis a Banquo-like supporter, Peter Cushing a conflicted opponent (it's one of his better movies, genre fans) and Michael Hordern a troublesome politico. Specially-billed Danielle Darrieux doesn't put a lot of life into her scheming queen, and Fredric March is sometimes hard to see through his thick black beard. But Harry Andrews is a magnificent Darius, in his quick reduction from Master of Asia to a betrayed man tied to his own litter-wagon by faithless retainers. Peter Wyngarde (Burn Witch, Burn!) is Darrieux's patsy, sort of a pathetic Lee Harvey Oswald figure. Frederick Ledebur (Moby Dick's Queequeg, Slaughterhouse-Five) is prominent at Philip's court and Helmut Dantine is reportedly dubbed by Christopher Lee. Alexander's Ill-fated brother is played by Spanish actor Gustavo Rojo, noted by genre fans for his Carlos in The Valley of Gwangi. The Spanish coproduction provided a couple of interesting-looking actresses. Marisa de Leza's Eurydice does her best to prove she's a sincere wife to Philip, only to run against the brick wall of Alexander's ambition. And for fans of John Huston's The Man Who Would be King, there's an electric moment when Alexander meets Darius's orphaned family and is introduced to the Persian King's beautiful daughter - Roxane. She's Teresa del Río, and the part is non-speaking. Both actresses have long Spanish careers but are unknown here.
The production is massive and handsome, with excellent costumes and sets. It's far more intelligent (and for the most part better cast) than Helen of Troy but Rosson the director lacks the visual flair of a Robert Wise or even a Riccardo Freda. The second unit battles are mostly uninspired, and many scenes lack anything resembling visual dynamism. Every shot in the action-challenged Land of the Pharaohs is a visual stunner; despite the lavish trappings here we tend to remember only Burton's blonde wig, Peter Cushing's determined face and just a few more details.
Rossen's script has Alexander dying just as he's turned over a new leaf, disavowing his earlier draconian executions and purges. He weds Roxane while presiding over the marriage of a hundred of his Macedonians to Persian maidens, in so doing creating a new national entity dedicated to a peaceful future, where rule will be 'over men's hearts instead of their bodies.' (spoiler) Alex dies of an unspecified ailment at a lunchtime meal, which historically may have been the result of a concussion or stomach poisoning. It's also equally explainable as an assassination by poison, it's hard to say. The writer director leaves it an unexplored mystery, true to history but probably disappointing to epic fans. Dead in his early thirties after conquering a big chunk of the known world, Alexander is given a pretty good vehicle.
MGM's DVD of Alexander the Great looks terrific; it seems to be a new enhanced transfer with excellent color and definition. The older laserdisc was pale in comparison, and here we get a much better feel for these Greeks who have leather helmets but ride horses bareback (ouch). Only one buzzy red title and one shot (clearly an optical blowup to condense a scene) look a little funky, and there's a cutaway to a maiden behind a curtain that appears to have been made into a still frame to cover a missing bit of negative.
Mario Nascimbene's music sounds fine. There's an original trailer stressing epic qualities. I have a terrible feeling that 1956 audiences just didn't accept Burton's golden locks, however.
I've read about longer versions of the film but have never heard of anything definite. There are a couple of places where the continuity seems disrupted by abrupt cuts to black, but nothing obvious seems to be missing.
On a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor, Alexander the Great rates: Movie: Very Good Video: Excellent Sound: Excellent Supplements: Trailer Packaging: Keep case Reviewed: September 28, 2004
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No one is more proud of the growing list of SIMUSIC alumni than Sung Cheol Lim, who is currently serving as the department's adjunct professor. For years, Woosong College's SIMUSIC (Sol International Popular Music) Department has been home to some of the biggest names in K-Pop, including V.O.S., Lee Minwoo and Kim Donghwan of Sinhwa, and Im Siwan—a heartthrob songster of the boy band ZE:A.
His curriculum covers general music production techniques, with a focus on recording and mixing. If writing songs and lyrics, singing or playing instruments is seeding a garden, then recording and mixing is the watering process. To Professor Lim, teaching and mentoring his students are no different to spending hundreds of hours to mix a single song to perfection. His mission is to help them become truly independent music professionals, which is a lot more than simply giving lectures. And as always, Avid S6 is by his side.
Digital Is the New Norm
Today, nearly everything has to be digital and "smart," and music production is no different. Almost every step of music production workflow can be done in a box, by a single person, and it is accepted as standard. In contrast, recording and producing previously was a team effort that required songwriters, arrangers, engineers, and instrumentalists.
I encourage my students to keep thinking outside the box, break the mold and push the envelope. They need to keep their minds fresh in order to really connect to today's audience and face the challenge head-on.
Previously, a song had to be pieced together by recording each track; if you needed 10 instruments, you had to have 10 people playing each one. But today you can easily produce a full album by yourself using a desktop computer, software and virtual instruments. It is indeed mind-blowing that you can have a fully functional music studio in your room, where you can access everything you need at your fingertips. That is the beauty of MIDI technology.
Pro Tools is truly versatile when it comes to digital music production. It provides everything for your audio needs in one software product—from sequencing, recording and mixing, to mastering—and users are very happy with recent enhancements to its sequencing features. While mixing with Pro Tools can be done solely with a mouse and keyboard, it is far more efficient with the integration of the Avid S6 control surface. For example, you can only edit individual volume per track with a mouse, whereas with the Avid S6 it is possible to adjust volumes for multiple tracks at once.
First in Korea: Avid S6
In 2014 faculty members and Professor Lim agreed that the school's recording studio, where the lectures are held, was in desperate need of an update. So Woosong College became the first location in South Korea to install Avid S6, replacing a TASCAM analog recorder that was more than 10 years old. As part of the upgrade, the department has also added a host of new equipment. In addition to built-in mic preamps and EQs, external preamps and compressors including Neve 1073DPA, Vintech X73, Avalon AD2022, and SSL G-series Compressor were brought in.
"I have been using Pro Tools professionally since 1996," Lim says. "SIMUSIC Department was created in 1997, and we had been using the TASCAM ever since. Therefore, embracing digital systems was a task long overdue. And as a long time user of Avid, the first thing came to my mind was Pro Tools naturally."
Everything has to be right there, intuitively accessible. I think that is what Pro Tools | S6 is all about.
A Pro Tools system would typically consist of computers, software, audio interfaces, and a control surface. Woosong's SIMUSIC recording studio is now sporting Mac-based Pro Tools | HDX, Pro Tools | HD (now Pro Tools Ultimate) software, and Avid S6. There is also another Pro Tools | HD Native system with C|24 Controller set up in a separate lecture hall.
Students Enjoy Avid S6
With the Avid Avid S6 system built and designed for world-class professionals whose quality standards are the absolute highest, there was a brief concern that, at first, students might have found it intimidating. But they soon fell in love with the system's exceptional level of detail. For Professor Lim, its intuitiveness and efficiency proved to be the winning formula.
Lim needed the new system to have highly advanced features for seasoned veterans, yet be very user-friendly for beginner students. It also had to be durable and reliable, since the students were the ones who would spend the most time using it on their own. Lim was not surprised when his students had no difficulty learning how to use the Avid S6. He was confident they would love it.
"What's more important is to learn how to mix with the software, not how to use a mixing controller. So it really contradicts the whole point of having a controller if it takes too much time learning how to use it. Everything has to be right there, intuitively accessible. I think that is what Pro Tools | S6 is all about," he explains.
Empowering Music Education
The faculty's decision to bring in the new Avid S6 system had a far-reaching constructive and innovative impact than originally expected because the entire curriculum had to be renewed and updated as well. Previously, each professor used different tools and systems from one class to another, ranging from songwriting and vocals to recording and mixing. As a result, the students had to spend nearly a full semester learning and adapting to new tools.
Based on Lim's suggestion, the department has since streamlined its overall program to be centered around Pro Tools and Logic. Freshmen students now learn to use Logic for basic songwriting courses, and sophomores are trained with Pro Tools for recording and mixing.
In an ideal world, having Pro Tools and Logic systems installed in two separate rooms would be more practical. But for now, the students must continue using both on one system, in the same recording room. Fortunately, the new Avid S6 supports controls for Logic as well as Pro Tools. This is a benefit over the existing C|24, which only allowed Pro Tools.
Students Produce Albums with Avid S6
The new Avid S6 proved to be a fresh injection of creative power for the students, particularly because a number of students were already active as burgeoning, up-and-coming musicians and artists. Everyone was eager to take part in making the annual SIMUSIC project, the participants of which included the student-led project group D.T.E., as well as the compiling of a student album titled SoLaMi. Their songs are available on Korean online music services such as Melon and Bugs, allowing them to reach music fans anywhere, any time.
In Professor Lim's view, the most valuable lessons can only be learned when the students are "out there" doing actual work, not sitting behind the desks reading, and that is where his focus remains. Professor Lim continues, "I encourage my students to keep thinking outside the box, break the mold and push the envelope. They need to keep their minds fresh in order to really connect to today's audience and face the challenge head-on. That is how you really learn things in our industry, with your sleeves rolled up. Only the knowledge and know-how the students acquire that way will become truly theirs, and act as their guiding light in music career."
There is little doubt in Lim's mind that the new Avid S6 will help him stay true to his principles. With the new systems in place, he feels confident that the students will spend more time and effort in becoming a creative artist without any unnecessary technical hassle. For Professor Lim, and his fellow faculty members, the new Avid S6 has marked the beginning of an exciting new chapter.


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Sunpentown Evaporative Air Cooler With Ionizer SF-609
November 10, 2009 by BFH Admin
Filed under HEALTHCARE
This Evaporative Air Cooler, Humidifier, and Fan with Ionizer is versatile, lightweight and economical. The Cooler easily rolls from room to room for use anywhere in your house or office. This Air Cooler shoots a stream of air with oscillating louvers, to evenly distribute refreshing cool air. Can also be used as a fan or humidifier if temperature is not an issue. – plus get the air cleaning benefits of the ionic air purifier. The remote control allows you to easily change settings. The Air Cooler works by endothermic reaction (a reaction that consumes heat), so this evaporative Air Cooler sucks air through a wick saturated with water. As the air flows through the wick, some of the water evaporates into the air, consuming the heat that was in the air. An air stream is then blown out the front of the unit and is considerably cooler than the current room temperature! This is not an air conditioner and therefore uses much less energy. Note: The unit works well in dry climates; not very effective in areas with high humidity as the unit utilizes water to cool.


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BSS Audio Soundweb London / Audio Architect Training
April 21st, 22nd, 23rd 2015
Austin, TX
Dobbs Stanford and BSS Audio are hosting this training event in Austin, Texas. If you haven't already, please read the course syllabus for general information about our training program. Below is event-specific information not covered in the syllabus.
Required Materials
Please bring a 64-bit, Windows-based laptop (either Vista, 7, or 8.1) with HiQnet Audio Architect installed. Audio Architect is available for free download here. Please also bring a mouse with a scroll wheel. Both the laptop and mouse are mandatory.
Event Location
Embassy Suites Austin-Central
5901 North IH-35
Austin TX 78723
Course Fee
None! This course is free of charge.
Lodging Fee
Any out-of-town students who require overnight lodging must pay for this expense out-of-pocket.
Meal Fee
None! BSS Audio will cover the cost of your lunch and snacks.
Start Time / End Time
Day 1 (Tuesday) (AA 100)
Students must arrive by 8:15am. AA 100 officially begins at 8:30am and class ends at 5:00pm.
Day 2 (Wednesday) (AA 100 / BSS 101)
Students must arrive by 8:15am. AA 100 continues at 8:30 and ends at 12:15pm, at which point lunch is served. Students not attending the subsequent courses are welcome to stay and eat lunch before they leave. Any student attending BSS 101 must be present by 12:15 for lunch. BSS 101 officially begins at 1:00pm and ends at 5:00pm.
Day 3 (Thursday) (BSS 201)
Students must arrive by 8:15am. BSS 201 officially begins at 8:30 and ends at 5:00pm
* There will be several snack/restroom breaks throughout the day in addition to the lunch break
** Please do not plan on leaving any earlier than the end times described above, otherwise you will not be given access to the Exam or awarded a certificate
Kevin Brown, Product Speciailst at BSS Audio
For questions about this course, please email.
Use the form below.
We understand that last minute cancellations are sometimes necessary. However, if you register and then need to cancel, please be courteous and notify us by email at least one business day before the course begins. If you fail to do this, BSS Audio will still be charged the cost of your hotel room and food. While these costs will not be passed on to you after the event, it will affect your acceptance to future BSS Audio / HARMAN training seminars or other events.


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Dawn Evans knew a kidney transplant was inevitable. She just didn't know it would be now.
The former James Madison point guard had to put her professional career on hold when her doctor contacted her with the news that her kidney disease had worsened and it was time to come home. One of the nation's leading scorers in college, Evans was in her second season with Arras of the French League when she got the call.
"I was upset," said Evans, a 5-foot-7 guard with a quick first step and range to score from anywhere on the court. "Having to leave midseason? I always imagined it happening in a way where I'd say, 'Ok, I'm ready. I'll call my doctor and we'll schedule it two months ahead of time and we'll get this done.' At the end of a season. I didn't expect it to be a decision that would be made for me."
Evans, 24, had been sending blood samples home every six weeks. She submitted another to her doctors on Jan. 6, the day she returned to France after a short stay at home in Clarksville, Tenn., for Christmas break. She hoped the results would show that her kidney function had improved with her daily regimen of up to 47 pills.
Instead, it showed that her kidney function was declining.
Her kidney function has been monitored constantly since Evans was diagnosed in December 2009 with focal segmental glomerular sclerosis. FSGS disrupts the filtering system in her kidneys, causing high blood pressure and headaches while sometimes leaving her with low energy reserves.
Besides her own doctor, Evans also sought a second opinion from the doctor who treats former NBA star Alonzo Mourning for FSGS.
Mourning played four seasons in the NBA after his kidney transplant in December 2004, and he and Evans have corresponded a few times each year since becoming aware of their shared medical histories. Mourning said he tries to let people know that no matter the issue, one's approach can make all the difference.
"It's like anything in life," said Mourning, a vice president for the NBA's Miami Heat. "You become as knowledgeable as you can. An individual who's going through anything, especially a health-related issue and when they don't know what they're dealing with but they educate themselves about it, their confidence changes. It helps them."
Pending final testing, Evans will get a kidney from her cousin, Erika Evans, of Prince George's County, Md.
Erika, 28, got tested as a possible match when she learned Evans would need a kidney, and was found to be compatible on four of the six markers.
"The lady there explained that the higher the markers, the more likely it is that her body will accept it and not reject it, so at that point, it was like, 'How do you not go with it?'" Erika said. "I'm very spiritual, so I just kind of felt like it was God."
Dawn Evans doesn't intend to let the transplant sideline her. Like Mourning, she intends to play again.
With Arras, she played 50 games over two seasons, averaging 33 minutes and 13.3 points.
While her kidney disease was not widely publicized in France, Arras team officials and her teammates knew about it. Team president Jean-Louis Monneret issued a statement expressing his "deep admiration for this girl from her journey and her personality" and leaving open the door for her return.
"We hope ... that she may soon play in Arras," Monneret said in the statement.
Evans' Arras teammate Anael Lardy said, to her, Evans "is like a super hero."
"She had bad kidney condition but she wanted to keep fighting for the team. She was amazing," Lardy wrote in an email to The Associated Press. "Since the beginning of the season we already knew about her situation but she never talked about her health condition. She never complained.
"I wish her the best (with her transplant) but I am sure and I have no doubt. She will come back."
If everything goes as planned, Evans not only plans to play again, but hopes to eventually get another shot at the WNBA. She believes publicity about her disease contributed to her going undrafted out of college. Evans had a tryout with the Connecticut Sun in 2012 but didn't make the roster. She did play in three regular-season games for the Los Angeles Sparks that year.
Her parents, while concerned about her desire to play again, also know not to count her out.
"Outside of this disease, she's an extremely healthy person," her father, Rodney Evans, said Tuesday. "We just came back from her doctor today and he was just extremely amazed at how strong her heart is. ... It's tough on a parent, but it's nothing compared to what she's had to deal with herself."
Evans hopes that by getting the transplant now, she will be ready to play when practice begins in France next October.
Cecile Piccin, an Arras assistant coach, looks forward to once again being able to pencil Evans in as the team's starting point guard.
Signing her was "the best choice the president and me did in 4 years," Piccin wrote in an email. "We'll do the same when she tells them she's ready to play again."
AP Sports Writer Tim Reynolds in Miami contributed to this report.


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GENEVA (AP) — The world's biggest food and drink company is pledging to speed up making hundreds of products with less salt to honor new U.N. dietary guidelines.
Swiss-based Nestle says further cuts in salt would be made in all its food brands worldwide in keeping with the World Health Organization's new guideline earlier this year that adults should limit salt intake to no more than five grams per day.
The company's statement Monday said hundreds of products would be affected, including soups, noodles, recipe mixes, frozen and chilled meals and pizzas in popular brands such as Maggi, Stouffer's and DiGiorno.
Nestle says it previous efforts "to progressively and continuously reduce the salt in its foods" have already reduced the amount of salt used in its recipes by 14,043 tons compared to 2005.